In avionics, various communications systems are used in an aircraft for performance of the aircraft. Such aircraft mounted communication systems often involve and use various electronics systems and antenna elements for communicating with ground-based or satellite-based communication systems.
To that end, the antenna elements that are used for such communication systems are usually mounted on the outside of the plane, such as to a fuselage surface where they are exposed, in use, to outside elements in flight. As such, the system electronics and antenna elements as well as other outside airframe equipment (OAE) must be securely mounted to the plane and usually covered with a radome or cover of some kind for protection from the elements and in flight debris, such as birds. For mounting such elements and OAE systems, usually an adaptor plate or frame of some kind is used, and the antenna elements and other electronic elements of the systems are mounted to the adaptor plate. The adaptor plate or frame is then mounted to the surface of the aircraft fuselage in an appropriate position. One such adaptor plate is the CarlislelT ARINC 791 plate from Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, Inc.
As may be appreciated, the outside surface or skin of an aircraft is not always a smooth and consistent surface due to its construction from various sections that are coupled together and secured onto the aircraft frame. Usually a lightweight metal such as aluminum or alloys of aluminum are used. Furthermore, the aircraft and outside aircraft surface are subject to significant temperature variations that cause the fuselage to expand and contract in different ways during usage that are not always consistent.
Therefore, such considerations must be taken into account when mounting antenna and electronic system adaptor plates to aircraft. The adaptor plates must be affixed properly so that they lie tightly against the surface. Furthermore, they must be able to move and adjust as the surface of the plane expands and contracts in order to reduce fatigue of the plates. In the past, universal joints have been utilized for mounting or installing such adaptor plates to provide some movement and adjustability as the adaptor plate is installed. However, even with such elements, in order to achieve proper mounting alignment and height (Z-axis) adjustments, installers have to use shims, mechanical spacers and other additional elements between the adaptor plates and aircraft surface. As may be appreciated, because of different aircraft surfaces and variables, different Z-axis scenarios are often encountered during installation. Furthermore, to achieve alignment and installation there may be a certain amount of pre-load on some of the mounting elements that may result in part fatigue. As may be appreciated, such necessities and concerns make the mounting process more difficult as well as slow the process down significantly.
Accordingly, there is a need to improve the process of installation of adaptor plates and electronic/antenna systems to an aircraft outside surface. There is further a need to standardize or simplify the installation process for such outside adaptor plates and systems. There is further a need to generally simplify the mounting process for mounting an element to a surface of a structure or device when that surface layout may vary slightly from surface to surface. There is a further need to generally simplify the mounting process to mount an element to a surface of a structure that may vary slightly from surface to surface.